NY Buck with .44 Mag

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birddog

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After a summer of hard practice, I decided to hunt with my Taurus M-44 (with Pro-Point II Red Dot Scope) instead of my shotgun in western NY. Rifle hunting in the Catskill Mountains proved fruitless for the first time in many years, as did hunting around my home in Western NY. However when I ventured into the southwestern part of the state, we had some great luck.

Hunting all morning in the pouring, driving rain and wind, we saw nothing. Around 9:30 my two hunting partners and I decided to try a small drive that my good friend Mike said had given up a few deer over the years. While two of us posted, Mike would slowly still hunt down a brushy draw. I was cold, wet and miserable and it sounded ok to me.

However, on the way TO this spot, after crossing three muddy corn-stubble fields and being generally worn out from the morning's hunt, we crested a knoll and -- holy crap -- there was an 8 point buck fifty yards from us in the goldenrod field. I spotted him first and got my revolver up first. One fifty-yard shot with the Taurus (240 grain jacketed soft points, pushed by 10.5 grains Unique) dropped him in his tracks. Here's the photo.
 

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Hey, Congrats!!!

That's a nice 'un to bring home, and you did it with a pistol. Good pistol kill and good story to boot.
 
Nice Buck.
And a nice shot as well.
I've often thought about hunting with my S&W 44 mag, but so far haven't tried it. Maybe next year I will.
 
Congratulations!

Good shot! Classic load, too. Who's bullet? How did it perform? Where did it hit?

More details! :)

I love to hear when hard work and good hunting pays off!
 
Excellent job Birddog ! I see a lot of bucks like that too, but usually only after someone else shoots one.

I have to tell you guys, I know Birddog and he is an excellent hunter. He's soon going to run out of room in his house for all of his trophy mounts. He's a lot smarter than he looks too. :evil:
 
Hey Birddog,
You're right, the deer hunting around these parts have been pretty scarce this year. I went to my buddies place in Rushford, and took a doe, but otherwise it's been slim pickins.

The revolver definitely adds a challenge, good job man!

I saw that picture, and I'm tellin' you, we've been in either Johnson's or The Cabin Range at the same time, because I know I've seen that face before.
 
smokemaker

Hey Birddog,
You're right, the deer hunting around these parts have been pretty scarce this year. I went to my buddies place in Rushford, and took a doe, but otherwise it's been slim pickins.

The revolver definitely adds a challenge, good job man!

I saw that picture, and I'm tellin' you, we've been in either Johnson's or The Cabin Range at the same time, because I know I've seen that face before.
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Smokermaker,

I'm sure you have seen his face around before: Either on a bulletin board at the post office or on "America's Most Wanted".
 
thanks for the replies

Yeah, Smokemaker, you might've seen me at Johnson's, spending money, sure. I live about 100 yards from the Cabin Range and that's where the Taurus that got the deer came from...Small world, eh?...Or maybe you saw my picture in Will Elliot's column in the Buffalo paper when he's been kind enough to give me some good book reviews.
Anyway....

For the technical info...it was a Magtech SJSP 240 grain bullet. To clarify, I actually shot the buck twice, even though one shot took him down. The first shot dropped him and the second was put -- very unnecesarily -- into his neck to stop what little thrashing he was doing. I always feel that there's no such thing as "too dead".

The 1st magtech bullet performed well. It blew in the top of one shoulder blade, and out the top of the other. The buck was nearly perfectly broadside. The exit hole was larger so even though I didn't recover the bullet I know it expanded well and caused considerable damage on the far side. I'll post a grisly pic of the opposite shoulder blade below, WARNING, GRAPHIC PHOTOS, that I took after skinning and butchering the deer.

The SECOND bullet that went into the neck was interesting. Unlike Mantis, I am no expert at ballistics, but I would say that the bullet's performance was admirable, but the core did separate from the jacket which I didn't expect. I wonder if the Speers would've done that.... I'll post a pic of that below too.

Interestingly, the copper jacket lodged in the spine, while the lead core (nicely mushroomed) continued on to rest just beneath the skin on the far side of the neck.

All in all, the hit was decisive, and the buck went down like a ton of bricks. I'm sold on the load, though I may try Speers or XTP's next year. Here are some photos.

Joel
 

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Joel, great buck, good shooting.
The few times I've been able to get out up here the hunting has been a little "slow". I just got back from a week in Pa. and it's the same thing down there. I think our best hunting may be in the next couple of weeks, but the deer may have to be moved. My buddy who runs Trophy Room Taxidermy has been getting some nice racks in though, along with some real bruisers from just across the border in Ontario.
I would think you may get that kind of performance from any 240 grain bullet that hit the neck bone, I've had similar results from a 300 grain XTP that hit a leg bone. If you were going to go with another bullet I would go with the one that shot best in your gun. I have some of the Speer and Hornady 240 grain HP's, I could give you a dozen of each if you wanted to experiment. I usually load these over 24 grains of H110 using a CCI large pistol magnum primer.
 
Good report. I've been wondering how that MagTech stuff would work.

I'll post a grisly pic of the opposite shoulder blade below, WARNING, GRAPHIC PHOTOS, that I took after skinning and butchering the deer.
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Where're the "grisly" pics? :confused: All I see is meat. ;)
 
uh oh.....

"Where're the "grisly" pics? All I see is meat. "

Uh oh....I think I may have slipped into a corporate-induced PC moment. My apologies.

(Unfortunately, I'm sure there are some that think pics of meat ARE grisly...Me, I think they're just tasty. Well, except for the bullet hole...)
 
nice shootin' birddog! congrats on a nice ny buck. all i got this year was a doe on the second day of the northern season. we did not see 1/3 of the deer we saw last year in 7R where we have a hunting lease. i hope next year is better.
 
Meat is food, whether's it's walking around with a hide still around it, presented at the butcher's counter, referenced in a cooking guide, or served on a platter at my table.

Moreover, you've got pictures of a higher grade of meat than can generally be obtained at the butcher. Any omnivore or carnivore who sees the pic should recognize it for the gastronomic opportunity for delight that it represents. :)
 
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